"I still think VeryGames will win" said one of the spectators I found myself stood next to prior to the game "but mTw look well drilled so it should be interesting." In theory it wasn't a bad shout all things considered but it turned out to be optimistic bullshit.

Yes, the one match that people thought would be the one to watch, the possible indication of a power shift in the CS:S scene, turned out to be another drab, one-sided affair. The French continued their streak of not surrendering more than 3 rounds this competition (they've never conceded more than 4 at an i-series) and the Germans looked in disarray.

They shouldn't have really. Playing VeryGames on de_season was as good as they could have hoped for, the map being well established in German EPS and being one that the German sides have even beaten their rivals on in practice in the past. However at LAN these two teams are very different animals to how they are at home.

On the one side you have the best team in the world, nothing to prove and no motivation to try their hardest when there's nothing at stake. On the other you have the head of the chasing pack, a team with all the tools to succeed yet still can't shake the nerves, the strange inability of German sides to deliver on Local Area Network. VeryGames go through the gears at LAN like a precision machine, only hitting their peak when they need to, which they really do. For mTw every game matters, the struggle is never far away.

What unfolded was pretty horrible... A damning indictment on the CS:S scene and the ugly side of success. However, in a tournament full of upsets (mostly through underachievement) there's one that you know is never coming. Right now, and for the past year, VeryGames are literally unbeatable. What makes that fact ugly is that it has become some sort of excuse, people always eyeing second in the great pissing contest.

Nothing worked for the German team and it was clear about eight rounds in that the fight had ebbed from their bodies and minds. Eyes on the next match. Second is not so bad. A series of platitudes that lead to one of the biggest disappointments in CS:S history.

16-2. We're cruising towards the inevitable, no end in sight for the VeryGames dominance.